After a few hours shifted into days passing by like pages flipping through a book, the two partners didn't meet throughout those mornings. Before, Jimin reached the river with news he couldn't bear to hold in any further, but the king never showed up. It was obvious that Jungkook was a busy man after his rut set back the days for the selection. The royal court demanded that the king marry sooner, so the marriage ban could be lifted and he would no longer have to see multiple omegas daily. Jungkook was occupied throughout those days, leaving Jimin to wait at the river on his own every morning. The swan found it difficult to carry in the secret any further as if it was slowly building up inside him like water pushing up against a dam; only so many logs can withhold the pressure from the strong current of the river.
Before Taehyung enlightened the young omega on the situation of hiding away his mark, Jimin had no hassle hiding away such a secret when fear carried the key to the lock; meaning that he only used fear to hide away such a heavyweight secret. Now, the omega longed to tell the alpha, but there was no other way to reach the king if he was never available throughout the day.
Jimin stood at the river one afternoon, tugging onto his long, red skirt to his hanbok, matching with his yellow upper coat and pale pink ribbon that tied the two halves of his upper coat so his skin wouldn't be revealed. His short hair was let down with the sides pulled back and held down with his brooch. Since his hair wasn't as long as before, it was difficult to style into the usual braid.
The omega returned to the river after morning to check if his alpha was present once again, but the longer he waited, the more anxiety knocked down his barriers. Jimin sighed and released his tense fingers from his skirt and looked around once more.
"It's been three days... He must be very busy to miss out on another morning like this," Jimin whispered and trailed his soft fingers up to his mark where he rubbed it carefully. "I shouldn't hold this against him, besides, I've taken up too much of his time during his rut. He's busy and I should meet him when he has time for me," Jimin continued and within seconds, the mating mark over his neck, gave out a jolt as if triple the amount of bees came hurdling in his direction for a sting.
"Mh-Ah," The omega hissed and ran the tip of his index finger along the dents to his mark and tried to relieve the pain, but it was no use. Jimin was extremely attached to his alpha to the point where he gained pain out of being so far from him. Especially since he hasn't seen the alpha in three days already. The mark was no longer recent, but their unbreakable bond that brought them together every second could have also benefited the constant stinging he would have on his neck. Either way, the omega couldn't bear to be far from his alpha now. He was the wind to his sail, the paint to his canvas and the air to his lungs. They were bound as one.
"There has to be another way to see Jungkook today... t-there just has to!" Jimin thought and got on his knees as he cupped his mark. "I need to see him tonight when the town is fast asleep, I can't bear to be away from him... not when I have this mark over my neck, biting down on my skin every second we are apart! I've put up with it for so long," Jimin huffed and finally removed his hand from his mark to fan air against it, allowing wind to ease it. "What am I going to do?"
At the same time, Jungkook dismissed another group of omegas from his courtyard. He looked around and watched them leave as he then hid his hands behind his usual red silk robe with golden dragon designs along his firm shoulders. As his wrist came into contact with his waist belt, he closed his eyes to listen to nature once more while he missed his lovely swan. When he spent three whole days without Jimin, he had an urge that almost pushed him to run out of his palace to see Jimin with just his royal robe on. But knowing how his people would bash in his glory and worship every step he took to the field, there was no use in running out and being seen with the one he wished for eternity with.
"What I would give to see your face again, Jimin," Jungkook spoke to himself, hoping he could set time back a few days so he could see his swan once more. "I feel something burning inside of me when I think of you, is this what it feels to be bound together after our first time?" Jungkook wondered.
Due to his lack of affection before, he was still a virgin before meeting Jimin. So, he couldn't tell if this was just his instincts yearning to be by Jimin's side. Not really knowing of the mark he gave Jimin through his rut. It was an off putting feeling; he felt as if a string was pulling at him to see Jimin, but his feet were glued to the ground in resistance.
"How desperate can I get?" Jungkook thought and opened his eyes to see a member of his court stare at him.
"Are you alright, my king?" Asked the old court lady as Jungkook only lifted his hand and nodded his head in response.
"I'm fine, thank you. I just need to get out of the sun," Jungkook answered as he then turned around and walked back inside the hall, leading to his throne room where he was always seen in.
Jungkook stepped in with a few of his guards standing by the doors once he approached the room. The interaction was silent as he then walked over to his throne and sat down, resting his hands over the center of his lap to gaze out into the lonely hall before him. There, Yoongi stepped into the throne room to see the lonely king sitting over his crimson Phoenix throne silently.
Once Yoongi stepped in, the guards closed the doors behind the head guard and gave them both some privacy.
"With that look on your face, I could tell you're getting impatient," Yoongi spoke and stood before the king with a smile.
"I've just had a bad day, that's all."
"You haven't seen Jimin at all, haven't you? It's good to take a break from him. Your desperation is getting filled with those endless thoughts of Jimin swarming your crowded mind. It's not healthy,"
"I didn't have time for him since I had to see many omegas today. Oh, it gets tiring seeing their bland faces as I hold Jimin's closer to my heart," Jungkook spoke and slouched onto his chair when he noticed he wasn't around his royal court anymore. Feeling free to relax and be his actual self without others judging him.
"You're very desperate, Jungkook. It was just one morning, before you know it, you'll see him tomorrow!"
"You don't understand, I feel more of an urge to see him. It's something far more different, far more difficult. I want him to be by my side... is this what you felt after your rut with an omega? I know how desperate I am, but this scares me, Yoongi. I feel something burning in me when I miss him, and I can't stop thinking about him... I'm obsessed, aren't I? Is this what I've mistaken for love?" Jungkook thought and covered his mouth as he looked down. "Have I just been feeding my desperation all this time?"
"Jungkook, don't think like that. You can't say things like that, what you have with Jimin is true," Yoongi added on in worry as he watched the king break himself down repeatedly. Of course, this was who the king was, he had the tendency to overthink and kill himself over things like this. This toxic trait he had embedded inside him, always had the desire to shoot through him like an arrow biting through a target.
"What if I-"
"Enough, don't question it, Jungkook. The more you question it, the more you will believe it. The more you think about it, the more you will see it," Yoongi replied, only finding Jungkook's constant overthinking as an insecurity in love from what he experienced when he was just a prince. "I wish you could stop thinking about such things, it will truly ruin the way you see Jimin..."
"I... I can't help it, you know how broken I am," Jungkook answered and bit his lip after embarrassing himself. "I'm as broken as a crack on a rock after years of pressure pushing down on it," Jungkook then let out an exhale and yet again, his mind thought of Jimin, but the constant thoughts of his love being attached to his loneliness, continued to nag him.
Silence fell across the room as Yoongi processed the question Jungkook had before. Slowly tilting his head as his gaze fixed onto the ground to ponder. "...On the other hand, I wasn't really that crazy about my omega after our first time during my rut, do you remember anything you did during your rut to cause that?"
"No, it's all a blur!" Jungkook argued as his frustration shot out his ears like pressured steam in a small pipe. "That's the only thing I try so hard to remember, it's on the tip of my tongue and I can feel it, but I don't know anything! I don't know what I did to Jimin to cause this feeling. It has to be my obsession towards him," Jungkook answered. Folding his arms and looking down over his knees. "It just has to be, I'm the only one who acts like this... why am I so broken? If only I didn't go out as a crowned prince and met that boy! I would have loved easily and would have normal thoughts in my mind, not constant thoughts of the omega I met and adore!"
"I don't think that's what it is," Yoongi stated, letting out a scoff and dropping his hands onto his own hips. "Do you see these?" the head guard asked and pointed to his fangs; the usual bones in every alpha's mouth.
"What about it?" Jungkook asked and finally looked at the guard, staring with an embarrassed shiver running down his spine.
"This, this is your answer."
"I-I don't understand,"
"As alpha's we have the tendency to mark who we want to mate with for an eternity. With the help of your desperation adding onto your rut with Jimin, could it be that you marked Jimin throughout those four days?" Yoongi asked as Jungkook slowly raised his index finger to touch the tip of his sharp fang.
"Are you saying that I must have marked Jimin as my omega?" Jungkook asked and suddenly shook his head. "N-No, I couldn't have! That would kill him! It would kill his choice of wanting to marry me, it would force him to be with me, there's no way!"
Yoongi watched the king panic like a lost child yearning to find familiarity, but the pale man only allowed the younger man to process the answer even if it seemed terrifying to him.
"If it was something else, I would love to hear it! Please let it be anything but this!" Jungkook cried and looked at the head guard to find no further comments to steer this frightening truth away from him, but the more the guard dove into this silence, left Jungkook to truly believe this assumption. "I-I gave him a voice, I promised him he would have a say in his future with me, but then I took that away from him! I claimed him and took his chances of having a voice."
"Jungkook, it's only an assumption. There's a possibility that it can't be real, but that possibility is slim," Yoongi assured and watched Jungkook turn his face away. Secretly hoping that this answer wasn't true at all when in reality, it was.